Did Bush skip Ethics 101 his junior year at Yale? You know, the course where you have to start out reading the Greeks and end up with John Stuart Mill, and know the difference between situational ethics and moral absolutism? And then you have to write a paper describing what you think is the best system for society — one that strives to produce the greatest good for the greatest number or one where everyone just does what works for them in the moment and maybe it equals out in the end.
Yeah, I thought Bush sat that one out.
But former Pres. Bill Clinton must have earned an “A” in that class.
“The president says he’s just trying to get the rules clear about how far the CIA can go when they’re whacking these people around in these secret prisons,” Clinton said in NPR’s “Morning Edition” interview, recorded on Wednesday.
“If you go around passing laws that legitimize a violation of the Geneva Convention and institutionalize what happened at Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, we’re going to be in real trouble,” he said…
Even if there were circumstances where such treatment is necessary to prevent an imminent attacks, Clinton said: “You don’t make laws based on that. You don’t sit there and say in general torture’s fine if you’re a terrorist suspect.”
CARDINAL CINEMA
Short Clips / Long Reflections:
Viagra for Presidential Sadism–satire aside, pay attention to W’s
extravagant verbatim ‘litany’ of Saddam Torture techniques in State of the Union address a couple of years ago…his ‘tone’ has an entirely new meaning in today’s context…
[Link]
And then here’s another hi-truth factor ’satire’…
Dear Born-Again American,
It’s come to our attention that some of you are experiencing certain moral “qualms” in regard to our President’s Urgent Need to have all interrogation tools “on the table” in order to protect our Homeland from terrorism.
Please understand: it’s high time to forget the misleading, buzzworded rumors of “drills” “socket wrenches”, “water-boarding” & [old-school] bagged-headpummelling–though “classified”, the results of this Administration’s American Data Extraction [ADE] techniques not only speak for themselves but are indeed steadily ‘evolving’–offering new and effectively-legal means to enhanced National Security.
And while I’m not at liberty to disclose the ‘experimental cutting edge’ of these programs, suffice it to say we have some of the best & brightest hard at work arriving at improved ways to both stay within the Nation-of-Laws-not-men–moral-legal framework and yet: ‘push the envelope’, as it whir [sic].
THE EXECUTIVE CALL FOR LEGAL “CLARITY”
We’ve now reached a point where “de-ambiguation” in the law would usefully and creatively ‘expand’ the “Killer-App” Research & Development platform of ADE. And no, in fact Scripture never morally addressed “the details” of this point per se; furthermore, in other (related) areas, we’ve been the most ‘forwardly moral-leaning’ administration of modern times, ensuring the PRE-personal respect for the very beginning of human life, right down to stem-cells. We absolutely and completely demand this respect for the unborn, EVEN EMBRYOS SIRED BY KNOWN TERRORISTS. So as you can see, our adherence to faithful Christian conduct is “uncompromised”, misleading appearances notwithstanding (likewise the well-intentioned but uncomprehending dissent of Colin Powell and John McCain, etc).
GENEVA UNCONVENTIONAL MORAL THINKING BEGINS
…OUTSIDE THE BOX
To those who are “squeamish” about these important developments (considering them against the Geneva “Conventions”, etc) and who dare “decline to render unto Caesar” that which, as Scripture reminds, is “his” (of explicit necessity including ADE in this War on Terror) and even presumptiously ask “What Would Jesus Do?” I remind you that in His ‘resume’ Jesus claims no actual ‘reality-based’ ground-zero ‘experience’ with a “War on Terror”.
And let me be clear on this point of faith and piety: I have PERSONALLY (behind “closed doors”) seen this PResident (for example during the Energy Task Force Meetings) “on his knees” to ‘better receive” the WILL of “Higher-Father Authority”.
AGAIN: Remember what Our President Does: Life is Precious.
This is unforgettably borne by heart in him. It is moral nonsense to imagine a leader so protective of
prenatal respect in effect ‘turning his back’ on ‘manifest’ Humanity itself by doing anything less than what remains RIGHT, GOOD, and TRUE. That’s afterall what he’s always been about, no less than Our Homeland Itself.
Please do then: Rest assured–we have in This President a ‘Heaven-sent’ Leader “Handmade” and Ever-Overseen by The Creator Himself.
As The Christian Faithful, then, how could you not be called on to “vote accordingly” REPUBLICAN?
As God “Chose” him, didn’t He also choose Our PARTY?
Thank you for your hopefully renewed, or continued, Faith!
In Christ Almighty, Nevermore Sincerely~
Ken Mehlman
Chairman, Republican National Committee
President Clinton is exactly right. Don’t we all wish we could get him back? Amazing what a difference a brain makes!
And to think that Bill Clinton was impeached for lying about a blow job in the ‘oral office’, while this clown continues to cost American lives in his continuing follies as the self-annointed ‘war President’. When oh when will a majority of sleeping American voters wake up and demand real answers and real ‘payback’ for all of the Bush criminal activites?
It has always puzzled me as to why we still use torture to extract information from unco-operative international terrorists. There is not a doubt in my mind that there are varieties of chemical concoctions that will put any man into a submissively delirious state so all his dirty secrets will spill.
Amazing what a difference
a brain makes!
As we all know, Bush has no brain OR heart…but nerve? Oy! He’s got some chutzpah!
To answer your question,
Dwight - Never. The American people will NEVER wake up because this is all about high school. It’s all about who’s right and who’s wrong in the sophmoric game of I’m better than you are, my father makes more money than your father, my girlfriend is prettier, etc, etc, etc.
This ain’t being settled without a bloody civil war here at home until the last vestiges of Bushthink are purged from our body politic.
As long as the puppet government goes along enacting the HAVA requirements, the American sheeple will not ever regain any semblance of what little control they exercised over the electoral process before 2000 (and that was pretty damn small, let me tell you).
Oh yah, wow! If only our greatest president of all time could be back in the Big House, all would be so peaceful and special. I mean Bill Clinton of course- he was such a dear. And he did so much for this country with all those brains he has!
Hi, mary ann. Do I see a trace of sarcasm in your remarks? Clinton is certainly no saint, but his lies caused NO DEATH or destruction, and his affair was his business and his alone. If this is the best arguement the rethugs can muster up as a counterpoint to 8 years of peace, prosperity, job growth advances on the enviornmental front, as well as the respect of the world at large, not to mention a balanced budget and a budget surplus, then, yes; it’s too bad he or someone of his quality isn’t in the White House at present-or do you think the bushies are doin’ a heck of a job?
“When oh when will a majority of sleeping American voters wake up”
As far as I can tell, Dwight, they might wake up when the media starts getting backbones and aggressively and repeatedly informing the American voters of what’s really going on, instead of bending over to save their own sorry ass jobs. But first, American voters should wake up to the massive election fraud in this country that since 2000 has enabled Republican candidates, including this president, to continually win elections they clearly have not won. As the Republican-owned manufacturers of voting machines use vulnerable technology with undisclosed codes–that for some reason simply cannot produce paper verification — it’s only a matter of time until the Democratic party (and all other opposing voices) will be history. There are so many things wrong with this administration…on so many levels. Justifying torture is one of many disturbing perversions this government is perpetrating. God help us all.
Would someone please awaken me from this nightmare? I think that I ate some bad spinach. I was dreaming that some President was shitting on the Constitution. But it was only a dream right?
Right!?
Six short years of dumbicile and token resistance.. This Democratic Republic was a fine experiment while it lasted.
I’m in the streets less than civil, disobedient. “Hamdan” didn’t matter and they count the votes too?
Friggin “here we go “Nazi’s never learn, do they? Stoopid idjits need another nose-bleed, and I’m staying in the schoolyard to kick some bully ass.
This man, Bush, and many who surround him, are a disgrace to humanity, let lone our country.
More importantly, they are war criminals and, in the mind of decent, civilized Americans, they must remain so.
I call on Democrats to fillibuster any bill or act that retroactively lets them off the hook, or codifies torture into our system of laws.
This is outrageous! I call on every American to issue their own “signing statement,” saying that while we understand that this pro-torture bill has been signed into law, we recognize that the man signing it as an international criminal as well as those who voted for its passage. Therfore we, the people, reserve the right to ignore this law when it comes into conflict with the good of the nation, which it will be, moment it is voted on and signed.